The Serpent's Temptation
From the opposite side of the experimental table, a head popped out. It was a woman's face that felt strangely out of place somehow. I used an application of the scanning technique I'd learned from Setas not long ago. I couldn't use it exactly the same way because our energy manipulation methods differed, so I'd adjusted it slightly.
The wave of energy I emitted swept through the lab. But something was off. Nothing registered. Setas had said this was how he distinguished between gods and demigods. I'd gotten permission beforehand and even tested it near Bastet, and it worked. In other words, this technique could detect even gods. Yet it couldn't detect the woman right in front of me. Her true nature was a complete mystery.
"Did you do something?"
The woman let out a eerie, mocking laugh.
"Who might you be?"
If this woman harbored any hostility, I'd already be dead. But the fact that she hadn't attacked first meant she had no intention of killing me right now, at least.
"Me? They call me Snake."
With that, she slithered up onto the table. It was a truly grotesque sight. Her head was human, but the rest of her was pure lizard.
"A snake, then. To what do I owe the visit?"
"You're not surprised?"
I was surprised. Plenty surprised. I was just too shocked to show it outwardly.
"There are so many weird things around here already."
That didn't mean I had to admit it, though.
"I see?"
Snake grinned brightly. The smile was so innocently pure that it only made her seem more alien.
"What business brings you here?"
She seemed to be deliberately changing the subject, so I asked again.
"You'll never succeed with this as it is, you know?"
Snake pointed at the dilution vial I'd been using moments ago with her short lizard legs.
"Do you know how to make it work?"
"Of course I do. I know everything."
Snake lifted her head proudly, as if boasting.
"I see."
This being called Snake was hard to pin down, but dealing with her felt uncomfortable. I just wished she'd say what she came to say and leave.
"So, want me to tell you the method?"
"There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world. I'll pass."
She didn't seem like a god, but she was clearly something similar. Better to refuse.
"No, it's free."
"Still passing."
Snake's perpetually cheerful face twisted slightly. Was this her true colors showing at last? I readied myself to escape at any moment.
"You're short on materials."
"Are we?"
I replied indifferently. A wicked smile bloomed on Snake's face again.
"A material that doesn't exist in this world. Without it, you'll never succeed."
That could be true. An elixir granting true immortality was a fantasy to begin with. Fullca Nellias, who'd devoted his life to this research, had written in his notes that it was theoretically possible—but that was just his opinion. I believed there was some feasibility to his theory, which was why I'd taken up his work. But I wasn't certain of success.
"I see. Understood."
I kept my response nonchalant. For all I knew, Snake could be lying. And even if she wasn't, there'd be a price.
"You gonna keep that up?"
Snake glared at me, eyes narrowing.
"Keep what up?"
"Answering so half-heartedly?"
"I'm quite sincere."
Sincere in wanting her gone, anyway. Snake puffed out her cheeks like a sulking child. It didn't suit her at all—not with a lizard body, anyway. Sensing my mood, she quickly schooled her expression.
"There's exactly one missing ingredient here. And I know where to find it."
Didn't you just say it doesn't exist in this world? Even if I knew, what could I do about it?
"I'll open a door to that place for you. You fetch it, complete the elixir, and when it's done, just give me one sip. Deal?"
"Couldn't you just do it yourself?"
Besides, wasn't she already immortal? Why bother with an immortality elixir?
"But I can't do it myself. That's how That One made me."
Did "That One" mean her superior? Or her creator? I'd heard that entity mentioned before in my presence. What could this being be, that even gods couldn't utter its name?
"I'll pass. Time to shelve the research."
"Why not! It's just picking a fruit. I told you, it's free!"
Snake seemed genuinely angry with me. But for all her presence, I felt no aura or killing intent. I was starting to doubt if she even existed for real.
More importantly, this "fruit" nagged at me.
"A fruit?"
"Yeah, a fruit! From the tree That One tends."
"What happens if you just eat it?"
Only then did a sly, cunning smile spread across Snake's face.
"Tempted?"
"I don't even know what kind it is."
"Eating it lets you become anything. It grants infinite possibilities."
I had a pretty good idea what fruit that was. The one Drakan mentioned from long ago, back when he was a little lizard—shared with a monkey and a cockroach?
"Then wouldn't eating it outright be better than processing it into an elixir?"
"Heh? So you call it an immortality elixir?"
Something shifted in Snake's eyes. So it wasn't an immortality elixir?
"It doesn't grant immortality?"
"What do you get mixing water with water?"
Snake posed a strange question.
"Just water."
"Exactly. That's what it is."
Even so, I still didn't get it. These types never explained things straightforwardly.
"If I picked that fruit, wouldn't That One punish me?"
"Nah. There's tons of fruit. No way That One would get mad over one."
"You're not certain?"
"I am."
Surprisingly firm answer. Was there really no cost to picking that fruit?
Suddenly, a casual remark Bastet had made long ago flashed through my mind.
'Don't trust gods.'
It hit me like lightning.
"Still refusing."
Truth be told, I wasn't entirely uninterested. A fruit that turned a mere lizard into a dragon and a monkey into a human, even shared among three? What would it do to me? I might become a god on the spot. And if processed into the elixir Snake craved and then consumed...?
"Really?"
Snake narrowed her eyes.
"Yes. I refuse."
"Really really?"
"Yes."
So please, just go already.
"Fine, can't be helped. See you later."
Snake didn't hide her disappointment as she hopped back down to the far side of the table. I stood and checked, but as expected, she was gone.
I went to Setas and told him about the snake encounter. I half-hoped he might know something, but really, it was for Bastet—who was perched on his head—to hear.
"Any idea?"
"No clue. But there's a similar story in our world. From an ancient, vanished religion's myth—about Adam and Eve, the supposed ancestors of humanity."
Setas's tale was incomplete; the religion was too old, and he didn't know the details. But the part about a snake tempting with fruit matched what I'd experienced.
"So Adam ate the fruit and got cast out of paradise?"
"Yeah, something like that. I recall interpretations saying it symbolized humanity defying the gods."
Something similar had happened here too. Back when gods and humans coexisted, humans betrayed the gods, and most left this world. Only Juno remained. Another world, but parallels existed.
"Got it. Thanks for the explanation."
Bastet said nothing throughout.
One question lingered, though. Why appear to me for the immortality elixir research? If that was the goal, she should've gone to Fullca Nellias, who'd studied it far longer. Or maybe he met her too and refused?
As I opened the door to leave Setas's lab, Bastet tossed out another offhand remark from behind.
[It is nothing.]
I didn't grasp the full meaning yet, but someday I would. I bowed slightly to Bastet and went to find Howard.
The only ones in this world who'd built up enough presence were me and Howard. If Snake would approach anyone else, it'd be him.
I told Howard the story too.
"You met that thing too?"
He'd already encountered her.
"When did you meet it?"
"Ages ago? Right before I left the Great Forest, I think."
Why so long ago? Howard hadn't even started building presence back then.
"What'd it say to you?"
"Couldn't talk. Looked weird, so I just ate it."
A surge of something rose in me, but I held it back.
"What ability did you get?"
"Nada. Tasteless too. Completely bland."
It was absurd, but maybe this was what Bastet meant by "nothing"?
Next time, maybe I should eat her too. Might keep her away for good.
After that, I paused the immortality elixir research. Snake might've lied, but her words rang true enough. True immortality was impossible for flesh-and-blood beings. Even Drakan, who'd ascended to godhood on his own, died in the end as a body of flesh. To make it possible, something from the gods' realm would be needed. That was my current thinking.
If another clue surfaced someday, I might resume. For now, shelved.
With nothing left to do on the New Continent, I returned to Akasha Territory. I tended to the domain I'd somewhat neglected and began seeking ways to boost the efficiency of my core function: recording.
Currently, I could operate 20 magic pens simultaneously. More was possible, but stability-wise, this was the limit. It was woefully insufficient for logging the flood of info from my clones.
I consulted various people on improvements, but no good ideas emerged. Setas, the most promising, wouldn't even touch the topic—likely due to that past incident. Knowing he'd actually died once, I couldn't push him.
As I pondered for days, word came from the capital. First time William had summoned me personally since his ascension.
I headed straight to the capital mansion and notified them to prepare for my imperial audience. Thanks to training, the servants no longer panicked at my sudden appearances.
Entry permission granted, I boarded the prepared carriage to the palace. Midway, it halted abruptly amid outside commotion.
A ragged boy from the slums had dashed in front of the carriage.
"You little shit! Got a death wish?!"
The coachman swung his whip threateningly, bellowing at the boy. Even if he'd struck and killed him, it wouldn't be a crime. That's how this world worked. Beating a slum rat for blocking a noble's carriage? Hardly unusual.
"Stop."
I opened the carriage window and halted the coachman. Stepping out, I examined the boy. The small figure was covered in wounds. In the distance, down an alley, burly, thuggish youths glared at him. Probably chased by them right up to the carriage. A common tale.
I healed the boy at once—but only the surface injuries. His back was severely hunched. Born that way. Even healing powers couldn't fix it.
"What's your name?"
"D-Dibip."
The hunchbacked boy couldn't even meet my eyes.
"Dibip, then. Where's your home?"
He couldn't answer. Likely no proper home. A slum hunchback, drifting to shadowy spots for sleep.
"Anywhere you need to be?"
"N-No."
Tears streamed down Dibip's face as he replied. Laden with meaning.
"Alright, come with me."
I had no delusions of saving the world. But this child appearing before me meant some connection, however faint. And a touch of whim.
Dibip looked up at me for the first time.
"Don't worry. I'm Germain Akasha, the Second Saint. I'll find you suitable work."
Plenty of nobles took slum folk like this for vile purposes—rumors abounded.
"Y-Yes, sir."
I personally helped Dibip up and into the carriage. Onlookers praised the saint. Not my intent, of course.
I left Dibip briefly in the carriage and entered the palace to meet Emperor William. Only a short time had passed, but he'd fully adapted to the throne.
"It's been a while, Viscount Akasha."
"I trust you're well, Your Majesty?"
Hardly. That's why he'd called me over his many capable retainers.